t HE  HEALING  POWER  OF 
SUGGESTION 


CHARLES  R.BROWN 


I   UO^ARYJ 

UNIVcK.iiir  OF 
CALIFORNIA 

!       SAN  DIEGO 


. 


C^e  Dealing  ^otoet:  of 


BOOKS  BY  CHARLES  R.  BROWN 


THE    YOUNG    MAN'S    AFFAIRS 

"An  excellent  book  for  any  young  man,  for 
it  is  written  in  a  sympathetic  spirit  and  with 
common  sense." — The  Living  Church. 

"The  author  discourses  of  the  young  man's 
purpose,  intimates,  books,  money,  recreation, 
wife,  and  church,  all  in  such  a  manner  as  must 
be  most  helpful  to  his  readers."— Chicago  Record' 
Herald. 

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FAITH    AND    HEALTH 

"  Written  with  fairness,  vivacity,  and  '  horse 
sense.'  Dr.  Brown's  shafts  are  pointed,  and  his 
sense  of  the  humor  of  fraud  and  humbug  is  keen 
and  irresistible." — Book  News  Monthly. 

"  We  wish  that  every  member  of  our  Church 
and  congregation  could  read  this  most  sane 
and  helpful  volume  on  the  relation  of  faith  to 
health."— The  Temple  Reminder. 

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Thomas  Y.  Crowell  Company 


THE  HEALING  POWER 
OF  SUGGESTION 


By 
CHARLES    R.    BROWN 

AUTHOR  OP  "FAITH  AND  HEALTH,"  "THE  YOUNG  MAN'S 
AFFAIRS,"  ETC. 


NEW   YORK 
THOMAS   Y.    CROWELL    COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,  1910 
BY  THOMAS  Y.  CROWELL  &  COMPANY 


€Ije  ^ealfng  j&otoet  of 


HERE  is  a  vast  amount  of 
sound  psychology  in  the  scrip- 
tures where  they  offer  us  in- 
struction along  moral  and 
spiritual  lines.  If  you  would 
form  the  right  sort  of  character  go  about  it  in 
a  rational  way,  the  Bible  says.  "  Whatsoever 
things  are  just,  whatsoever  things  are  true, 
whatsoever  things  are  pure,  whatsoever  things 
are  honorable,  whatsoever  things  are  lovable, 
whatsoever  things  are  of  good  report,  think 
on  these  things."  Pasture  your  mind  and 
heart  on  them  just  as  you  send  your  Jersey 
cow  into  the  clover  when  you  want  her  to  give 
good  milk.  Let  these  modes  of  thought  fur- 
nish the  delicate  nutriment  which  is  taken 
up  into  the  very  structure  of  your  inner 
life.  "Be  ye  transformed  by  the  renewing  of 
your  mind,"  —  by  the  introduction  of  higher 


and 


and  finer  forms  of  material  to  be  wrought  upon 
by  the  energies  of  your  soul.  "Let  the  words 
of  your  mouth  and  the  meditations  of  your 
heart  be  acceptable  in  the  sight  of  the  Lord,"  — 
let  your  speech  and  your  thought,  which  are 
both  under  your  control,  be  right  and  you  will 
be  made  right  throughout. 

It  is  in  this  same  vein  that  the  author  of  the 
now  familiar  proverb  offers  his  word  of  wis- 
dom. As  a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart  so  is  he ! 
The  writer  does  not  mean  that  a  single  thought 
will  transform  a  man  either  physically  or  mor- 
ally. He  means  that  states  of  mind,  prevailing 
habits  of  thought,  tend  constantly  to  register 
themselves  in  bodily  as  well  as  in  moral  condi- 
tions. Morbid  conditions  of  mind  mean  by  and 
by  morbid  conditions  of  body.  Weakness  of 
will  and  irresolution,  fear  and  worry,  prepare 
a  soil  favorable  for  the  seeds  of  disease  and  aid 
in  its  development.  Healthy  states  of  mind, 
minds  free  from  all  grudge,  bitterness  and 
envy,  minds  free  from  anxiety,  fret  and  distrust, 
minds  filled  with  faith  and  hope  and  love, 

make  for  health  as    surely  as    do  sunshine, 

[6] 


Dealing  potter  of 


fresh  air  and  pure  water.  As  a  man  thinketh 
in  his  heart  steadily  and  insistently,  be  it  up 
or  down,  so  he  tends  to  become.  "The  body 
is  the  general  expression  of  past  thinking,"  as 
that  thinking  has  wrought  itself  out  in  terms 
of  physical  life. 

Thoughts  then  are  things,  powerful  things! 
If  any  one  should  tell  a  man  suddenly  that 
some  one  he  loves  dearly  had  met  with  a  fatal 
accident,  he  would  instantly  turn  pale,  the 
blood  leaves  his  face.  A  thought  does  that  — 
not  a  drug  nor  a  blow  nor  any  physical  agent 
whatsoever.  Tell  a  man  of  honor  that  he  is  a 
liar  and  his  face  is  aflame  with  indignation  as 
the  blood  flows  into  it.  It  is  a  thought  regis- 
tering itself  in  certain  physical  changes.  A 
thought  will  cause  the  blood  to  flow  this  way 
or  that  way;  a  thought  will  work  a  radical 
change  in  the  various  currents  of  life.  Now  if 
you  will  utilize  this  force,  which  we  all  know, 
by  intelligent,  persistent,  systematic  habits  of 
thinking,  you  can  see  at  once  how  powerful  it 
may  become  for  good. 

"A  great  deal  of  alleged  physical  suffering 

[7] 


and 


is  primarily  mental.  A  great  many  people 
have  'fixed  ideas'  of  disease,  pain,  debility, 
fatigue,  dread,  inefficiency  and  inexpressible 
woes.  Much  oftener  than  we  realize  these 
can  be  transplanted  without  surgery  or  medi- 
cation. I  do  not  mean  that  they  are  not  real 
suffering;  they  are  as  real  as  the  grave.  But 
they  are  not  grounded  in  physical  infirmities 
and  they  are  not  to  be  cured  by  physic.  The 
mind  becomes  possessed  of  a  conviction  that  a 
certain  part  of  the  body  is  infirm  and  imputes 
pain  to  that  part  in  spite  of  all  the  medicine  in 
the  world.  Hundreds  of  people  refuse  to  get 
well  after  the  physician  has  cured  them.  It  is 
not  his  fault  and  it  is  not  their  fault;  they 
have  simply  had  disease  suggested  to  them 
until  they  cannot  think  at  all  except  upon  that 
assumption.  And  for  such  conditions  the  stim- 
ulus of  new  faith  and  the  re-education  of  the 
whole  mental  outlook  are  needed."  l 

Suggestion,  then,  as  I  use  the  term  in  this 
chapter,  means  the  influence  exercised  upon 
the  body  by  the  subtle  power  of  ideas.    The 
1  Max  Eastman,  Atlantic  Monthly,  May,  1900. 
[8] 


Dealing  $otoet  of 


value  of  it  in  dealing  with  certain  functional 
troubles,  especially  those  of  a  nervous  or  men- 
tal origin,  is  coming  to  be  recognized  by  all 
intelligent  physicians  and  by  people  generally. 
You  can  see  the  philosophy  of  it.  The  most 
vital  functions  we  know,  digestion,  assimila- 
tion, circulation,  elimination,  are  all  of  them 
constantly  and  profoundly  influenced  by  the 
state  of  mind.  "A  merry  heart  doeth  good 
like  medicine,"  the  Bible  says  ;  a  cheerful  dis- 
position affects  all  these  vital  processes.  The 
old  proverb,  "  Laugh  and  grow  fat,"  has  physi- 
ology on  its  side,  for  the  food  we  take  when 
we  are  cheerful  and  happy  does  us  ten  times 
more  good  than  the  food  eaten  when  we  are 
angry  or  worried  or  depressed.  The  processes 
which  have  to  do  with  the  elimination  of 
waste,  of  fatigue  and  other  poisons  from  the 
system,  are  constantly  affected  by  the  state  of 
mind. 

"Mind  cure  is  simply  the  acquiring  of  con- 

trol over  impulses,  emotiohs  and  the  habits 

that  demoralize.     It  substitutes  other  habits 

if  necessary.    The  person  gains  mental  poise 

[9] 


anti 


and  leans  toward  optimism.  The  mind  liber- 
ates the  nervous  mechanism  and  the  vital  fluids 
of  the  body,  so  that  all  the  functions,  both 
physical  and  mental,  are  performed  normally." 
Professor  Anderson  of  Yale  University  un- 
dertook a  few  years  ago  to  demonstrate  the 
power  of  thought  in  a  most  scientific  way.  He 
had  a  young  man  suspended  in  his  laboratory 
on  a  perfectly  balanced  disk.  He  told  the 
man,  who  was  a  mathematician,  to  think  of 
some  difficult  problem  in  mathematics  and  to 
try  to  solve  it  mentally.  As  the  man  began  to 
think  hard  the  nicely  balanced  disk  tipped  on 
the  side  where  the  man's  head  was,  the  blood 
flowed  to  the  brain  in  increased  amount  and 
that  tipped  the  scale.  He  told  the  man  to  think 
of  running,  for  the  young  fellow  had  been  a 
football  player  and  interested  in  track  events. 
And  as  the  man  began  to  think  of  making  a 
hundred-yard  dash  or  of  running  down  the 
field  with  the  pigskin  under  his  arm,  the  disk 
tipped  to  the  side  where  his  feet  and  legs  were. 
The  blood  was  now  flowing  more  freely  into 
these  organs.  By  asking  the  man  to  repeat 

[10] 


Dealing  potter  of 


the  multiplication  table  of  nines  the  displace- 
ment was  greater  than  when  he  was  repeating 
the  table  of  fives,  which  is  an  easier  table. 
The  professor  found  that  the  center  of  gravity 
in  the  man's  body  was  shifted  as  much  as  four 
inches  by  merely  changing  his  thought,  with- 
out the  moving  of  a  muscle.  Thoughts  are 
things,  and  their  power  for  good  or  ill  can  be 
accurately  weighed  and  measured. 

Here  then  is  a  force  to  be  used  !  If  the 
blood  can  be  made  to  flow  more  freely  here  or 
there  by  a  change  of  thought,  if  all  the  pro- 
cesses of  digestion,  assimilation,  circulation  and 
elimination  can  be  influenced  for  good  or  ill 
by  mental  conditions,  if  all  those  functions 
which  are  in  constant  communication  with  the 
nervous  system  can  be  aided  or  can  be  hin- 
dered in  their  operation  by  the  thoughts  we 
think,  then  you  can  see  how  much  is  suggested 
in  those  words,  As  a  man  thinketh  in  his 
heart  so  he  becomes  ! 

You  will  find  this  agency  discussed  under 
the  somewhat  elaborate  title  of  "The  Thera- 
peutic Value  of  Suggestion,"  by  such  scien- 
[11] 


f afty  anD 


tific  men  as  Bernheim  and  Moll,  Tuke  and 
Liebeault,  Schofield  and  Dubois.  You  will 
find  it  taken  up  by  psychologists  and  by  edu- 
cators. We  deal  with  children  almost  entirely 
by  suggestion.  The  child  about  to  cry  over 
some  trifle  has  his  attention  directed  to  some- 
thing else  by  a  new  suggestion  and  the  occa- 
sion for  his  wail  is  thus  forgotten.  The  child 
who  has  had  a  tumble  is  told  that  he  is  n't 
hurt  much;  "Mamma  will  kiss  it  and  that 
will  make  it  well!  Now  it  is  all  well";  the 
suggestion  is  accepted  and  becomes  effective. 
Suggestion  may  be  utilized  in  curing  bad  habits 
and  in  changing  unpleasant  dispositions  in 
children. 

We  may  carry  the  same  principle  on  up  to 
the  years  of  maturity  and  utilize  it  in  dealing 
with  more  serious  matters.  We  may  educate 
the  mind  by  suggestion  to  move  in  better 
channels  and  teach  the  heart  to  cherish  more 
wholesome  states  of  feeling,  and  in  that  way 
accomplish  splendid  results  in  securing  health 
and  in  developing  character. 

It  is  needless  to  say  to  any  intelligent  reader 
[12] 


Dealing  Cotter  of 


that  the  power  of  mind  over  matter,  the 
power  of  suggestion  over  bodily  conditions,  has 
its  limits.  All  power  has  its  limits  unless  it 
be  the  omnipotent  power  of  Almighty  God, 
and  even  He  declares  Himself  conditioned  in 
the  accomplishment  of  His  purposes  by  the 
giving  or  the  withholding  of  our  obedient  co- 
operation. All  power  has  its  limits;  I  could 
pick  up  the  pulpit  in  my  church  and  carry  it 
across  the  street,  but  I  could  not  pick  up  the 
church  and  carry  it  away.  Yet  the  fact  that 
my  muscular  power  has  its  limits  does  not 
indicate  that  it  is  of  little  worth.  I  can  by 
right  thinking,  right  feeling  and  right  resolving 
affect  profoundly  certain  physical  conditions, 
but  I  cannot  entirely  change  the  structure  of 
the  body  in  cases  of  serious  organic  disease 
by  merely  thinking  pleasant  thoughts.  The 
power  of  suggestion  does  not  accomplish  every- 
thing; no  more  does  surgery  or  medicine  or 
any  other  agent  you  can  name.  Suggestion  is 
merely  one  of  the  therapeutic  agencies  which 
may  be  employed  in  the  interests  of  health. 
Let  me  put  it  more  concretely.  Here  is  a 

[13] 


f aft^  and 


woman  who  is  suffering  from  nervous  dys- 
pepsia. Her  food  does  not  agree  with  her; 
she  is  losing  flesh  and  losing  strength;  she  is 
afraid  of  a  total  collapse.  It  may  be  that  there 
is  no  organic  disease  present;  this  question 
should  be  determined  by  some  one  trained  in 
diagnosis.  If  there  is  no  organic  disease,  then 
what  she  needs  is  not  Hood's  Sarsaparilla  or 
some  long  prescription  written  out  in  ponder- 
ous Latin,  so  much  as  a  new  state  of  mind. 
She  talks  too  loud  and  too  much.  When  she 
talks  to  any  one  over  the  telephone  in  that 
nervous,  fretting  way  it  almost  seems  as  if  she 
would  break  the  instrument.  The  other  people 
in  the  room  where  her  message  is  being  re- 
ceived can  hear  the  squeaking,  rasping  noise 
which  is  made  when  the  person  at  the  other 
end  of  the  line  is  talking  unnecessarily  loud. 
It  is  simply  a  nervous  habit  which  some  people 
thoughtlessly  acquire. 

This  woman  who  suffers  from  nervous  dys- 
pepsia is  intense,  jerky,  fidgety  in  all  her  life. 
Her  two  patron  saints  are  St.  Martha,  troubled 
and  fretted  about  many  things,  and  St.  Vitus, 


Dealing  ^crtoer  of 


moving  with  jerks  and  twitches  rather  than  in 
serene  strength.  She  cannot  sit  down  without 
drumming  on  the  table  or  fussing  with  some 
ornament  on  her  dress.  She  will  sit  in  the 
rocking  chair,  nervously  rocking  to  and  fro. 
You  know  the  Europeans,  who  are  not  addicted 
to  rockers,  say  that  the  Americans  are  so  rest- 
less that  even  when  they  sit  down  they  cannot 
be  still,  they  must  rock  to  and  fro  as  if  they 
were  going  somewhere.  This  woman  eats  in 
feverish  haste  or  with  such  depression  of  mind 
that  her  food  is  robbed  of  its  value.  She  sleeps 
uncertainly  and  fitfully,  and  she  is  losing  power 
every  day  in  the  week. 

Here  is  a  case  where  suggestion  is  "indi- 
cated," as  the  physicians  say.  If  there  is  no 
organic  disease,  suggestion  will  do  her  ten 
times  more  good  than  drugs.  If  she  will  only 
say  to  herself  slowly,  thoughtfully,  expectantly, 
every  night  after  she  gets  into  bed  and  every 
morning  before  she  gets  up,  three  times  a  day 
before  meals  and  three  times  a  day  after  meals, 
and  at  intervals  of  an  hour  or  two  during  the 

day,  —  if  she  will  only  say  to  herself  these  eight 

[15] 


and 


words  which  so  many  people  have  found  use- 
ful, it  will  do  her  a  world  of  good.  The  re- 
sults may  not  appear  in  ten  minutes  or  in  a  day, 
but  in  a  surprisingly  short  time  they  will  work 
a  beneficent  change  in  her  whole  nervous  sys- 
tem. Here  are  the  eight  words :  "  QUIETLY, 
EASILY,  RESTFULLY,  TRUSTFULLY,  PATIENTLY, 
SERENELY,  PEACEFULLY,  JOYOUSLY." 

This  would  be  good  for  her;  it  would  be 
good  for  any  one  who  has  the  least  suspicion 
that  he  is  headed  in  that  direction.  If  you 
find  yourself  talking  too  loud,  moving  with 
jerks,  losing  your  self-control,  liable  to  petu- 
lant speech,  breaking  out  in  spurts  of  anger; 
or  if  you  find  yourself  constantly  out  of  breath, 
all  unstrung,  feeling  as  if  you  might  fly  to 
pieces,  stop  right  there !  Sit  down  and  do 
your  exercises !  Say  to  yourself,  either  audibly 
or  mentally,  "Quietly,  easily,  restfully,  trust- 
fully, patiently,  serenely,  peacefully,  joyously." 

You    can    thus    control    your    own    mental 

states  if  you  set  about  it  in  the  right  way.    We 

are  not  responsible  for  the  random  thoughts 

which  come  and  go;  we  are  responsible  for 

[16] 


Dealing  J&otoer  of 


those  which  come  and  settle  down  to  summer 
and  winter  with  us.  As  the  old  proverb  had  it, 
"You  cannot  keep  the  birds  from  flying  over 
your  head,  but  you  can  keep  them  from  build- 
ing their  nests  in  your  hair."  You  are  respon- 
sible for  those  states  of  mind  which  you 
retain  and  cherish.  And  where  you  are 
convinced  that  in  your  own  case  there  is  a 
tendency  to  be  morbid  and  unwholesome  you 
can,  by  systematic  and  persistent  suggestion, 
change  all  that  and  make  it  right. 

When  once  you  get  the  process  started, 
then  by  giving  it  a  little  attention  from  time 
to  time  it  seems  to  almost  take  care  of  itself. 
This  is  accomplished  through  what  Professor 
James  of  Harvard  and  many  other  psycholo- 
gists call,  "the  sub-conscious  mind."  These 
men  believe  that  the  sub-conscious  mind  is 
especially  susceptible  to  suggestion,  and  that 
suggestions  once  lodged  there  may  continue 
to  accomplish  great  good  when  the  conscious 
attention  has  been  directed  to  other  matters. 
I  am  aware  that  some  psychologists  scout  the 

idea  of  a  "sub-conscious  mind,"  but  we  need 

[17] 


f  att^  and 


not  quarrel  about  terms.  There  is  surely 
something  in  each  one  of  us  which  is  indi- 
cated by  that  phrase. 

When  you  are  walking  down  street,  every 
time  you  lift  your  foot  and  put  it  down,  every 
time  you  turn  aside  to  avoid  running  into  some 
one  going  in  the  opposite  direction,  it  involves 
an  act  of  perception  and  of  will,  but  you  are 
scarcely  conscious  of  it ;  you  may  be  thinking 
of  something  else  or  talking  steadily  to  some 
friend  who  walks  with  you.  The  sub-con- 
scious mind  attends  to  the  minor  details  of 
your  walk  and  to  many  of  the  details  in  every- 
day life.  The  skilled  performer  on  a  pipe 
organ  learns  to  do  many  things,  as  we  say, 
automatically.  His  mind  is  intent  upon  the 
sheet  of  music  before  him  while  his  fingers  and 
his  feet  are  unconsciously  placing  themselves 
aright  upon  the  keys.  He  opens  and  closes 
stops,  manipulating  the  various  appliances  of 
the  organ  to  secure  the  desired  result,  scarcely 
conscious  of  the  details,  for  his  entire  conscious 
attention  is  given  to  the  general  effect  of  his 

playing. 

[18] 


Dealing  ^otoer  of 


I  learned  something  about  this  sub-con- 
scious mind  in  my  own  case  in  this  way:  I 
am  a  stenographer;  I  earned  my  way  through 
Theological  Seminary  with  my  shorthand.  I 
was  a  court  reporter  for  a  time,  and  I  also 
worked  a  year  and  a  half  in  the  home  office  of 
a  large  fire  insurance  company.  I  took  dicta- 
tion from  the  secretary  of  the  company  and 
I  became  very  familiar  with  all  the  insurance 
lingo  and  with  his  own  phrases  and  methods 
of  correspondence.  I  reached  the  point  where 
I  could  take  his  dictation  with  perfect  accu- 
racy without  thinking  about  it,  without  even 
hearing  consciously  what  he  was  saying.  I 
was  thinking  about  the  play  I  had  seen  the 
night  before  at  the  theater  or  the  book  I  had 
been  reading  or  the  young  lady  I  was  going 
to  call  on  that  evening.  The  sub-conscious 
mind  was  meanwhile  attending  to  its  duties  as 
the  secretary  dictated  his  letters. 

I  discovered  this  in  a  peculiar  way.  He  was 
a  great  joker  and  used  to  joke  with  his  agents 
—  "jollying  them  up,"  as  he  called  it  —  in  his 
business  letters.  I  would  take  his  dictation, 

[19] 


ana 


recording  the  jokes,  —  some  of  them  very 
good  ones,  for  he  was  an  exceedingly  bright 
man,  —  without  ever  hearing  them.  Then 
when  I  came  to  write  out  my  shorthand  notes 
on  the  typewriter  I  would  come  to  the  jokes 
and  they  would  be  entirely  new  to  me  and  I 
would  laugh  over  them  for  the  first  time. 
Whatever  name  we  may  apply  to  it,  I  am  con- 
fident that  there  is  a  mental  realm  which  lies 
below  the  level  of  ordinary  consciousness,  and  in 
that  realm  the  power  of  suggestion  may  be  made 
to  work  mightily  in  the  interests  of  health. 

You  will  find  all  this  worked  out  in  elabo- 
rate fashion  by  many  writers.  Henry  Wood, 
in  his  "Ideal  Suggestion  through  Mental 
Photography,"  has  prepared  a  series  of  mental 
pictures  which  he  undertakes  to  photograph 
upon  the  mind  by  having  each  one  printed  in 
large  capitals  on  a  single  page.  This  is  to  be 
held  before  the  eyes  until  it  registers  itself 
indelibly  upon  the  mind.  He  believes  it  will 
produce  deep  down  that  state  of  feeling  and  of 
expectation  which  will  persist  after  the  con- 
scious attention  has  been  turned  of  necessity 

[20] 


^otaer  of 


to  something  else.  His  suggestions  are  all 
wholesome  and  his  little  book  has  been  useful 
to  many  nervous  and  troubled  people. 

I  have  a  system  which  I  arranged  myself 
and  which  I  have  used  for  my  own  health  and 
have  given  to  many  other  people,  with  excel- 
lent results.  It  is  made  up  entirely  of  phrases 
from  the  scriptures.  It  is  as  harmless  as  pure 
water  or  fresh  air.  If  it  does  not  help  you,  it 
cannot  hurt  you.  It  is  unlike  the  intellectual 
shuffling  and  the  fierce  denials  of  reality  with 
which  certain  Christian  Science  healers  often 
ply  their  patients  —  as  different  as  is  spring 
water  from  brandy. 

Let  me  give  you  an  illustration  of  this 
method,  if  you  wish  to  be  treated  by  sugges- 
tion or  if  you  wish  to  learn  how  to  treat  your- 
self or  to  treat  others  for  those  ills  which  can 
be  relieved  in  this  way.  Make  yourself  as  easy 
and  as  comfortable  as  you  can.  Let  your  hands 
lie  easily  in  your  lap  or  at  your  side.  You  are 
not  using  them  now  —  you  are  only  using  your 
eyes,  your  ears  and  your  mind;  let  your 
hands  rest.  Let  your  lower  limbs  relax  —  you 

[21] 


and 


are  not  using  them  either ;  you  are  not  walking 
and  that  easy  chair  will  hold  you  up  without 
any  effort  of  your  own.  Now  in  that  relaxed 
state  of  restfulness  follow  me  through  these 
suggestions.  There  are  eight  sets  of  them, 
one  for  each  day  in  the  week  and  two  for  Sun- 
day if  you  choose  to  use  them  as  a  daily  ex- 
ercise in  right  thinking.  They  are  arranged  in 
two  series  of  four  each,  one  of  the  series  cul- 
minating in  healing  and  the  other  culminating 
in  sleep.  While  you  are  at  your  ease,  repeat  to 
yourself  these: 

AIDS  TO  SUGGESTION 
/.    To  banish  fear 

Fear  not  —  only  believe. 

Fear  not  —  it  is  your  Father's  good  pleasure 

to  give  you  the  mastery. 
Perfect  love  casteth  out  fear. 
I  will  fear  no  evil,  for  Thou  art  with  me. 

II.    To  bestow  confidence 

In  quietness  and  confidence  shall  be  my 
strength. 

[22] 


Dealing  potter  of 


Be  still  and  know  that  He  is  God.  The 
Lord  of  Hosts  is  with  me.  The  God  of 
Jacob  is  my  refuge. 

Be  strong  and  of  a  good  courage.  The 
Lord  my  God  He  it  is  that  goeth  with  me. 
He  will  not  fail  me  nor  forsake  me. 

I  know  whom  I  have  believed  and  I  am 
persuaded  that  He  is  able  to  keep  that 
which  I  have  committed  unto  Him. 

777.    To  increase  faith 

Have  faith  in  God. 

All  things  are  possible  to  him  that  believeth. 

Great  is  thy  faith  —  be  it  unto  thee  even  as 

thou  wilt. 
Thy  faith  has  made  thee  whole. 

IV.    To  promote  healing 

The  leaves  of  the  tree  are  for  the  healing  of 

the  nations. 
The  Sun  of  Righteousness  is  risen  with  heal- 

ing in  His  wings, 

The  prayer  of  faith  shall  heal  the  sick. 

[23] 


ana 


He  forgiveth  all  my  iniquities.  He  healeth 
all  my  diseases. 

V.    To  gain  peace 

Great  peace  have  they  who  love  Thy  law  and 
nothing  shall  offend  them. 

Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace  whose 
mind  is  stayed  on  Thee. 

Peace  I  leave  with  you;  My  peace  I  give 
unto  you.  Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled ; 
neither  let  it  be  afraid. 

The  peace  of  God  which  passeth  all  under- 
standing shall  keep  your  hearts  and  minds 
through  Jesus  Christ. 

VI.   To  develop  strength 

They  that  wait  upon  the  Lord  shall  renew 

their  strength. 
The  Lord  shall  give  strength  to  his  people  — 

they  shall  go  from  strength  to  strength. 
The  Lord  is  the  strength  of   my  life,   of 

whom  shall  I  be  afraid. 
I  can  do  all    things  through   Christ  who 

strengtheneth  me. 

[24] 


potter  of 


VII.  To  secure  happiness 

A  merry  heart  doeth  good  like  medicine. 
If  ye  know  these  things  happy  are  ye  if  ye 

do  them. 
Happy  is  he  that  hath  the  God  of  Jacob  for 

his  help. 
These  things  have  I  spoken  unto  you  that 

My  joy  might  remain  in  you  and  that  your 

joy  might  be  full. 

VIII.    To  induce  sleep 
Come  unto  Me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are 

heavy  laden  and  I  will  give  you  rest. 
There  remaineth   therefore  a  rest  for  the 

people  of  God. 
I  will  lay  me  down  in  peace  and  sleep,  for 

Thou  makest  me  to  dwell  in  safety. 
He  giveth  His  loved  ones  sleep. 

Fix  your  mind  upon  each  one  in  turn  !  Give 
yourself  to  it  until  it  fills  and  possesses  your 
entire  consciousness.  Seek  to  absorb  its  full 

significance  as  you  dwell  upon  the  bearing  it 

[25] 


anb 


has  upon  your  inner  life.  Fear  not,  only  be- 
lieve, for  faith  conquers  all  dread.  "  God  hath 
not  given  us  a  spirit  of  fear  but  of  power  and 
of  love  and  of  a  sound  mind."  Fear  not,  it 
is  your  Father's  good  pleasure  to  give  you 
the  mastery  —  the  entire  control  of  your 
moods,  your  habits  of  thought,  and  the  func- 
tions that  have  to  do  with  sound  health.  Per- 
fect love  casteth  out  fear,  —  the  heart  possessed 
by  love  for  God  and  love  for  its  fellows  has 
nothing  to  fear  for  it  cannot  suffer  permanent 
harm.  I  will  fear  no  evil  for  Thou  art  with 
me  —  in  the  presence  of  the  Great  Companion 
the  heart  is  freed  from  its  anxiety. 

Your  thoughts  sent  out  into  every  part  of 
your  body  with  a  holy  and  helpful  purpose 
will  not  return  unto  you  void  —  they  will  go 
far  toward  the  accomplishment  of  that  whereto 
they  are  sent.  In  quietness  and  confidence 
shall  be  your  strength.  Be  still  and  know  that 
He  is  God  —  some  forms  of  knowledge  come 
by  the  active  use  of  the  intellectual  faculties 
and  other  forms  come  by  quiet  communion. 
Be  still  and  know !  The  Lord  of  Hosts  is  with 

[20] 


Dealing  potter  of 


you;  the  God  of  Jacob  is  your  refuge.  Be 
strong  and  of  a  good  courage  —  the  Lord  thy 
God  He  it  is  that  goeth  with  you,  He  will  not 
fail  you  nor  forsake  you.  Know  whom  you 
have  believed,  even  though  you  remain  uncer- 
tain as  to  what  you  may  believe  at  every  point 
in  the  creed  —  to  know  whom  one  has  believed 
is  a  long  step  toward  vital  faith  ;  and  know  too 
that  He  is  able  to  keep  that  which  you  have 
committed  unto  Him. 

Have  faith  in  God  !  All  things  are  possible 
to  him  that  believeth  —  faith  opens  a  wide  door 
into  a  large  field  of  possibilities.  "  Great  is  thy 
faith,"  the  Master  said  to  the  woman  whose 
affectionate  and  believing  entreaty  on  behalf 
of  her  child  seemed  to  overleap  all  obstacles, 
"be  it  unto  thee  even  as  thou  wilt."  And  to 
one  who  seemed  to  lack  so  much,  His  word 
was,  "  Thy  faith  hath  made  thee  whole." 

The  leaves  of  the  tree  —  not  the  fruit  but  the 
incidental  by-products  of  the  wide-branched, 
far-reaching  system  of  divine  helpfulness  —  are 
for  the  healing  of  the  nations.  The  Sun  of 

Righteousness  is  risen,  filling  the  whole  world 

[27] 


anti 


of  human  need  with  life-giving  rays,  even  as 
the  ordinary  sun  fills  the  earth  with  light  and 
warmth,  quickening  every  living  thing  —  the 
Sun  of  Righteousness  is  risen  with  healing  in 
His  wings.  The  prayer  of  faith  shall  heal  the 
sick  —  it  takes  its  place  among  the  other  thera- 
peutic agencies  upon  which  wise  and  devout 
men  rely.  And  in  this  whole  attitude  we 
are  dealing  with  Him  who  is  able  to  for- 
give all  our  iniquities  and  to  heal  all  our 
diseases. 

Great  peace  have  they  which  love  Thy  law  — 
the  divine  law,  the  divine  way,  the  divine 
method  —  and  nothing  shall  cause  them  to 
stumble.  Thou  wilt  keep  him  in  perfect  peace 
whose  mind  is  stayed  on  Thee  —  though  storm 
and  tempest,  struggle  and  temptation,  rage 
without,  there  is,  deep  within  the  soul,  a  place 
untroubled,  unshaken,  untouched  in  its  abid- 
ing peace.  Peace  I  leave  with  you ;  My  peace 
I  give  unto  you  —  and  it  was  a  transcendent 
peace  which  the  Master  possessed.  Let  not 
your  heart  be  troubled,  neither  let  it  be  afraid. 

And  the  peace  of  God  which  passeth  all  under- 

[28] 


Dealing  Cotter  of 


standing,  which  goes  deeper  than  the  ordinary 
reach  of  our  intellectual  perceptions,  shall 
keep  —  the  word  used  was  a  military  term  and 
it  meant  "garrison"  as  if  deep  within  the  life 
there  was  an  impregnable  citadel  made  strong 
beyond  the  power  of  any  assault  —  the  peace 
of  God  shall  garrison  your  heart  and  mind 
through  Jesus  Christ. 

The  searching  inward  reconstruction  which 
will  gradually  take  place  under  the  power  of 
intelligent  suggestion  and  religious  faith  will 
work  marvelous  changes  in  the  general  health 
—  "  They  that  wait  upon  the  Lord  shall  renew 
their  strength,"  through  the  reinforcement  of 
His  imparted  grace.  "The  Lord  shall  give 
strength  to  His  people  —  they  shall  go  from 
strength  to  strength,"  from  one  form  of  strength 
to  another  and  a  higher  form,  from  one  meas- 
ure of  strength  to  another  and  a  fuller  measure. 
The  Lord  is  the  strength  of  my  life,  of  whom, 
or  of  what,  shall  I  be  afraid  !  "  I  can  do 
all  things"  —  this  sounds  like  boasting  — 
"through  Christ"  (but  here  is  modesty  and 
humility,  for  the  strength  is  His  and  it  becomes 
[29] 


ana 


ours  by  the  personal  appropriation  of  faith) 
"who  strengtheneth  me." 

And  all  this  must  issue  in  increased  happi- 
ness, which  in  turn  will  react  upon  health,  for 
a  merry  heart  doeth  good  like  medicine.  If  ye 
know  these  things,  do  them,  translate  the 
vision  into  deed,  the  insight  into  practice,  the 
promise  made  to  your  higher,  finer  self  into  a 
performance,  and  happy  you  will  be.  Happy 
is  he  that  hath  the  God  of  Jacob  for  his  help  — 
his  personal  relation  to  the  Eternal  becomes 
in  him  a  deep  well  of  happiness  springing  up 
with  everlasting  life.  These  things  have  I 
spoken  unto  you  —  it  was  almost  the  last 
word  uttered  on  earth  by  Him  whom  God 
anointed  with  the  oil  of  gladness  above  his 
fellows,  making  His  joy  a  transcendent  and  a 
surpassing  joy  —  these  things  have  I  spoken 
unto  you  that  My  joy  might  remain  in  you 
and  that  your  joy  might  be  filled  full. 

And  then  to  crown  and  close  the  day  of 
deep,  rich  experience,  seek  the  rest  and  quiet 
of  profound  sleep.  "Come  unto  Me  all  ye 

that   labor   and    are   heavy   laden" — all   ye 

[30] 


potter  of 


weary,  burdened  and  depleted  lives  —  "  and  I 
will  give  you  rest."  "There  remaineth  there- 
fore" —  not  away  in  some  remote  hereafter 
beyond  the  clouds,  but  here  and  now  in  the 
midst  of  these  exacting  duties  —  "a  rest  for 
the  people  of  God";  it  is  a  rest  which  comes 
not  by  unloading  one's  obligations  or  by  flee- 
ing from  one's  duties,  but  by  that  re-enforce- 
ment of  strength  which  finds  ease  and  joy  in 
the  performance  of  duty.  "  I  will  lay  me  down 
in  peace  and  sleep"  —  and  to  any  life  which 
loses  all  care  in  the  sweet  forgetfulness  and 
the  precious  renewal  of  sleep  there  is  given 
an  innocent,  rewarding  and  ever  recurring 
source  of  profound  comfort  —  "  for  Thou 
makest  me  to  dwell  in  safety."  He  giveth 
His  loved  ones  sleep  ! 

If  you  are  suffering  from  nervous  headaches 
or  nervous  indigestion  as  a  result  of  living 
under  too  great  a  strain;  if  you  have  a  ten- 
dency to  hysteria,  of  which  there  is  a  great 
deal  more  than  many  people  suppose;  if  cer- 
tain functions  are  not  performing  their  duties 

as  they  ought,  I  know  by  experience,  my  own 
[31] 


anD 


and  that  of  others,  that  if  you  will  take  these 
suggestions  and  use  them  quietly,  trustfully, 
persistently,  you  can  bring  about  a  change  in 
your  whole  interior  life  which  will  register  its 
good  results  all  through  your  body.  Send  your 
thoughts  aloft  into  this  upper,  purer  air  when- 
ever they  are  freed  for  a  few  moments  from 
the  ordinary  concerns  which  occupy  them,  and 
they  will  not  return  unto  you  void. 

If  you  are  troubled  with  insomnia,  as  so 
many  burdened  men  and  women  are  in  these 
days,  when  we  are  living  at  too  sharp  a  pace, 
you  can  find  help  here.  I  have  great  sympa- 
thy for  those  who  find  it  difficult  to  sleep; 
several  years  ago  I  knew  what  it  meant  to  lie 
awake  the  long  night  through,  hearing  the 
clock  strike  the  hours  and  the  half  hours,  long- 
ing for  sleep  and  longing  in  vain.  But  it  is 
possible  for  us  to  teach  ourselves  better  habits 
of  sleep.  I  have  learned  how,  at  the  close  of 
some  long,  hard,  exacting  day,  to  so  use  these 
scriptural  formulas  that  oftentimes  in  less  than 
five  minutes  after  my  head  touches  the  pillow 
I  am  sound  asleep,  awaking  next  morning  re- 

[32] 


Dealing  ^otoer  of 


freshed  and  ready  for  another  busy  day.  It 
is  unspeakably  good  to  be  able  to  lay  oneself 
down  in  peace  and  sleep,  resting  upon  the 
infinite  arm  of  Him  who  maketh  us  dwell  in 
safety. 

You  will  understand  that  I  do  not  offer  these 
suggestions  to  you  as  a  panacea  for  Bright's 
disease  or  cancer  or  bubonic  plague;  in  the 
presence  of  such  diseases  the  power  of  sug- 
gestion is  as  helpless  as  is  Mrs.  Eddy  herself. 
The  Christian  Scientists  are  simply  plungers 
and  speculators  in  this  market  where  whole- 
some suggestion  has  value  and  is  quoted  regu- 
larly in  all  the  reliable  medical  journals.  The 
men  who  are  using  it  intelligently  as  one  of 
the  many  therapeutic  agents  are,  on  the  other 
hand,  trying  in  sober,  sensible  fashion  to  ascer- 
tain its  exact  value  and  to  employ  it  where  ex- 
perience has  "indicated"  it  as  being  useful. 
And  it  is  true  beyond  a  peradventure  that  in 
many  nervous,  mental  and  functional  disor- 
ders you  can  thus  invest  thought  and  desire 
in  the  confident  assurance  of  receiving  good 

dividends. 

[33] 


f  atty  and 


And  indeed  in  cases  of  organic  disease  and 
in  warding  off  the  attack  of  germ  diseases  you 
will  find  it  of  great  value  to  cultivate  that  state 
of  mind  and  heart  which  is  favorable  to  health. 
We  know  that  pneumonia  is  developed  from 
a  microbe  and  that  there  is  a  bacillus  of  tuber- 
culosis and  a  bacillus  of  diphtheria  and  that 
there  are  other  enemies  of  our  peace.  Some 
people  seem  to  think  that  if  a  man  happens  to 
meet  one  of  these  microbes  it  is  all  up  with 
him.  But  the  doctors  and  nurses  in  the  wards 
of  the  hospitals  where  such  patients  are  treated 
probably  have  the  bacilli  of  those  very  diseases 
in  their  mouths  and  noses  and  throats  every 
day  in  the  week,  and  it  is  a  rare  thing  for  any 
of  them  to  contract  the  disease.  If  you  will 
keep  yourself  in  good  health,  physically,  men- 
tally, morally,  you  also  may  walk  unhurt  in 
the  midst  of  a  multitude  of  microbes.  The 
seed  of  disease  may  come  your  way,  but  it 
does  not  find  in  you  good  soil,  or  when  it  falls 
upon  you  the  birds  of  the  air  devour  it  up, 
the  winged  energies  of  your  inner,  positive, 

healthful  life  destroy  it  before  it  has  time  to 

[34] 


Dealing  $otoer  of 


take  root,  and  you  pass  on  unhurt.  If  organic 
disease  does  actually  fasten  upon  you  and  you 
need  medical  treatment,  this  same  practice 
of  wholesome  suggestion  which  quiets  the 
mind,  steadies  the  nerves,  fortifies  the  will, 
serves  to  line  up  the  recuperative  energies  and 
to  put  them  in  condition  to  mightily  aid  the 
physician  and  the  nurse  in  making  you  well. 
In  a  serious  surgical  operation  even,  the  chances 
of  recovery  are  greatly  improved  if  the  patient 
goes  to  it  with  a  free  mind,  in  a  happy  mood 
and  with  a  feeling  of  confidence  in  the  outcome 
rather  than  in  a  state  of  fear  and  anxiety. 

Get  it  out  of  your  mind,  if  you  can,  that  you 
are  a  helpless  victim;  the  chances  are  ten  to 
one,  that  you  are  not.  It  probably  lies  within 
your  power  to  come  off  more  than  conqueror 
through  Him  who  loves  you.  Make  up  your 
mind  that  you  will  lay  hold  upon  all  the  forces 
seen  and  unseen  which  make  for  health! 
Then,  not  by  some  sudden  dramatic  change, 
but  by  sowing  good  seed  in  good  soil  expect 
as  a  result  in  due  course  of  tune  a  harvest  of 

good  health. 

[35] 


f  ait^  and 


You  can,  if  you  will,  overcome  your  self- 
distrust,  your  fear  of  failure,  your  sense  of  in- 
adequacy to  your  tasks  by  the  persistent  use 
of  suggestion.  You  can  overcome  your  dis- 
trust of  others,  your  suspicion  as  to  their 
motives,  your  feeling  that  there  must  be  some 
evil  lurking  there  in  the  dark,  your  cynical 
unbelief  of  which  you  are  often  ashamed. 
You  can  overcome  your  morbid  dread  of  the 
future;  most  of  the  things  that  people  worry 
themselves  into  their  graves  about  never 
happen.  You  can  do  all  this  by  the  systematic, 
persistent  use  of  the  power  of  suggestion  in 
inducing  more  wholesome  lines  of  thought 
and  more  healthful  states  of  feeling.  Learn 
to  depend  less  upon  the  without  and  more  upon 
the  within. 

In  my  judgment  we  are  just  brushing  the 
surface  of  the  stores  of  helpfulness  which  lie 
hidden  there.  We  are  doing  just  that  in  many 
quarters.  Electricity  has  been  here  in  the 
world  ever  since  the  lightning  flashed  across 
the  sky  the  day  that  Noah  entered  the  ark 

when  he  saw  the  storm  coming,  but  we  of  this 

[36] 


Dealing  potper  of 


generation  are  the  first  to  really  make  use  of 
it.  We  are  just  beginning  to  know  the  power 
of  right  thinking  and  right  feeling  as  they  bear 
upon  health,  sanity  and  character.  When 
you  set  yourself  toward  the  high  and  hard 
task  of  being  made  whole,  all  the  way  up,  all 
the  way  down  and  all  the  way  in,  you  have 
behind  you  and  within  you  the  propelling 
force  of  the  divine  mind  and  the  divine  love 
intent  upon  the  same  great  end.  He  too  is 
seeking  to  banish  fear,  to  bestow  confidence, 
to  increase  faith,  to  promote  healing.  He  too 
is  desirous  that  you  should  gain  peace,  develop 
strength,  secure  happiness  and  enter  into  the 
rest  which  remains  for  the  people  of  God. 
While  you  are  working  out  your  own  salvation 
by  systematic  and  persistent  effort,  God  is 
working  with  you  and  for  you  to  accomplish 
His  good  pleasure. 


[37] 


UCSOunenN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A     000  758  721     5 


